HIGHLIGHTS AND GRATITUDE

HIGHLIGHTS AND GRATITUDE

With the festive season now over and life slowly getting back to some form of normality, the quiet and calm in my house allows me to reflect on an incredible year just gone. For me, 2016 was certainly a year of figuring things out, consolidating experiences that I had in my 9 month stint in Europe the year before and setting intentions and plans for a future clear with purpose and drive. Amongst all of that I also had a couple of unexpected surprises. I don’t have all the answers but I feel I’m on a path that feeds my soul now.

UNEXPECTED TRADITIONS

Christmas and New Year was a busy time in my household, hosting family and friends from overseas, connecting and reconnecting with friends, some not seen in years! On New Year’s Day we had lunch at my parent’s place with our nearest and dearest. Our gorgeous friends from Canada instigated a ‘highlights and gratitude’ exercise (the biggest highlight for 2016 and then two things we are grateful for). We went round the table nominating the next person until all had revealed their truth.

It was an interesting exercise, for some it was challenging – only one highlight? Not possible… Others knew straight away what they were going to say. Overall, for me it was an experience to see each person’s inner thoughts and highlights, including the children’s. I learned something about each and every person around that table that I had not known before. What was a priority for them, what stood out, it all revealed an inner part that often is kept hidden. It was quite a revealing exercise and yet very innocent in its delivery.

(Photo: Gingerbread house for Christmas decorated by my niece and her visiting Canadian friend, Sydney Australia, December 2016)

I’d like to keep this tradition for future years, it allowed us all to connect on an intimate level that can be overlooked when we are busy socialising and catching up. This way of doing it allowed for some personal connection like no other. The feeling of gratefulness and blessings was powerful and set the themes for the new year ahead.

That is another thing I have decided for this new year. Instead of setting specific goals I am setting themes instead. Within these themes I am focussing on letting the universe guide me. Go with the flow with good intentions I say!

Like I have blogged before, I have found that more is achieved by letting go of control and letting people and events present themselves at the right time to achieve our plans. I am definitely continuing this method going forward.

(Photo: Christmas table with reindeers and gingerbread house decorated by my niece and her visiting Canadian friend, Sydney Australia, December 2016)

HIGHLIGHTS

My biggest highlight this year and also my biggest surprise was to finally put myself out there online (something I never thought was my kind of thing) and meet someone who has the potential to be my significant other. It’s early days but I can see that after all these years of working on myself and finally being emotionally ready, it has been worth the wait.

GRATITUDE

There are so many things, big and small, that I am grateful for but at that table on New Year’s Day, for me it was the blessing of having so much love from family and friends, both near and far. The security I draw from such energy is priceless and powers me every day.

I was also feeling grateful to have been given an opportunity to connect to a wider audience and make a positive impact through sharing my life experiences as a result of my car accident. This, I feel, is a privilege and I am humbly rewarded every day when someone benefits from me connecting to them in some way. It excites me to see that I can have a big impact and give back all this love that has been given to me.

So for 2017, what are our highlights going to be? what will we be grateful for? Set your themes and intentions, work towards them every day in some small way and by the end of the year all will be revealed.

Another good practice I observed in social media was to choose something every week that you are grateful for and write it down and put it in a jar (or in your journal) and then at the end of the year, go through and see how many great things we have in our life. Focussing on being grateful is the underlying power to further abundance and blessings.

I wish you a very successful 2017 – physically, emotionally, mentally and especially spiritually!